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Vol. 6, No. 2 |
February 2004 |
~ Page 4 ~ |
Unconscious plant life commands respect, and it ought to turn men's minds to a power that can beget life. Such was its effect on Joyce Kilmer:
I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
The very existence of matter is inexplicable without assuming there was a maker. Kilmer's tree, however, adds more mystery if one does not assume a maker. The chemical elements constituting an apple did not create themselves. And the seed within the apple has something which analytical chemistry cannot locate. From some source the tiny seed has power to burst open and send roots deep within the soil. The roots have anchoring power and also ability to withdraw water and nutriments from the soil. From some source they have ability to turn in the direction where the most water can be found. The same little seed has power to send growth upwards, climbing out of the soil and into the sunlight, and to include in that upward growth canals for carrying precious and vital liquids against gravity to high limbs.
Some source gave that tiny, dry, hard apple seed the power to send forth leaves on the upper growth, and gave the leaves power to utilize sunlight as they operate a chemical factory extracting carbon from carbon dioxide. Some source gave the buds power to unite the freed carbon with soil chemicals to form the meat of the apples. Finally, the seed has inborn power to cause the apple meat to be packaged neatly and efficiently and to enclose new seeds for future orders from the apple factory.